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Shinji Ikari
The Main Protaginist Third Child and pilot of Eva Unit 01 Personality: Shinji's loss of his mother and then his father lead to abandonment issues, showing little to no self esteem, reclusiveness, and an avoidance of any difficult or painful situations (this is often depicted as Shinji listening to his SDAT player with headphones). He is also described as shy, timid, and afraid of physical contact. While he is acknowledged later in the series to be a skilled Eva pilot, in the early episodes of the series, he is never really shown to have any other notable skills besides his talent for cooking. It is revealed in episode 15 that he is a cellist, something of which he had made no mention previously in the series. When asked when he began playing, he explains that his guardians had insisted on lessons when he turned five. As to why he still plays, he admits it is because he was never told to stop, even though he believed he should have "quit immediately." Thereon, the cello appears as a recurring moif in the series, possibly representing Shinji's "identity" - indeed, his musical talent seems to be the only way in which he feels that he can openly express himself. He claims to be untalented, but is shown both in episode 15 and in Death and Rebirth playing Bach's Cello Suit No. 1. Piloting Abilities Shinji was thrown straight in to the heat of battle within the first episode and proved to be one of the greatest pilots they have ever had by being able to syncronize with his Eva without any prior training. Shinji's relationship with his Evangelion and status as a pilot is very ambivalent; the entire series can be seen as a centered around Shinji.On the one hand, as an Eva pilot, Shinji is very reluctant to go to war, to cause deaths, and to enter battle or to actively do things; on the other hand, he is given strength by his mother (whose metaphysical "presence" exists inside Unit 01) and he defines his self by piloting the Eva. Sometimes Unit 01 reaches "berserker" mode - a state in which the Eva is activated without an apparent energy source and the EVA becomes and takes over control of itself. During the battle with the Angel , his reserve power ran out, and he temporarily meets his mother . Directly afterwards EVA Unit 01 enters "BERSERKER" mode, and she (Eva Unit 01) eats the Angel, taking the S² into herself. Character History: After Yui's absorption into Unit-01, Gendo leaves the three year old Shinji in the care of a teacher so he can focus on "Project Evangelion." Shinji lives a very reclusive existence until at the age of fourteen, he receives a letter containing a Nerv ID card, a risqué postcard from Captain Misato Katsuragi, and a note from his father simply stating "Come!" After being caught in the middle of the first Angel battle, between UN forces and Sachiel, Shinji is delivered to the Geofront, where he is ordered by his father to pilot Unit-01 in lieu of a badly injured . Shortly after, Shinji is taken by Misato as his guardian and manages to build a social life in his new school, making friends with and . As the series progresses, Shinji's relationships with his fellow pilots, including , also deepen. The latter episodes focus on Shinji's psychological and emotional problems and his strained relationship with his father, all of which worsen with the increasingly personal attacks of the Angels, culminating in the events of The End of Evangelion. Alternate Continuities: Manga Adaptation: The Shinji of 's is considerably different from his animated counterpart. Although Shinji still has issues with his father and his past, and is plagued by self-doubt and feelings of worthlessness, he is considerably more apathetic, depressive, and prone to anger or criticalness rather than being fearful and cringing. One of the first things he does after being forced to attack Toji (who is severely injured and crippled in the anime, but actually dies of his injuries in the manga) is to try to punch his father. He is also more willing to burst out angrily in protest and voice his opinion - in the manga, Shinji loudly protests when Misato announces her plans to take him home to live with her. Shinji in the manga is also much more smart-mouthed than in the anime. For example, after Toji and Kensuke witness Shinji fighting Shamshel, Toji asks Shinji to hit him as payback for having beat up Shinji earlier. In the anime Shinji obliges, but in the manga Shinji decides not to hit him at the last minute, cheerfully saying, "I'd rather have you owe me one. It's more fun that way." He later embarrasses Toji in front of their female classmates, and calls this Toji's payback. He is also less submissive around Asuka and tends to respond to her insults with sarcastic comments or retorts rather than apologizing. He also openly criticizes Asuka for acting innocent and bubbly around Kaji and Misato, only to revert to her arrogant personality once they leave. Another change is that Gendo left Shinji with one of his uncles instead of a teacher. In addition to the changes to his personality, the manga places a stronger emphasis on Shinji's relationship with Rei. Their initial interactions and Shinji's first impressions of Rei closely follow events in the anime, but as the story progresses, Shinji's kindness toward Rei and concern for her well-being make an enormous impression on her. Shinji, for his part, is determined to get as close to Rei as he can, but is unsure of where their relationship is going, or even exactly what he feels toward her. After being asked by Asuka in vol. 5 if they are dating, he thinks to himself:After Rei sacrifices herself to kill the Angel , Shinji breaks down and cries in front of Kaworu, saying "Ayanami...I don't want to lose you..." The manga also makes enormous changes to Shinji's relationship with Kaworu. Kaworu reminds Shinji of how he felt about Rei the first time he met her, and he is disturbed by Kaworu's apparent lack of human feelings and tendency to invade his personal space. In vol. 9, Shinji says that he doesn't think he could ever like Kaworu. In vol. 10, Kaworu uses a kiss to stop Shinji from hyperventilating during a nightmare, and makes advances toward Shinji which he flatly refuses. He later leaves Kaworu's apartment with very little in the way of a good-bye, which upsets Kaworu, although after Kaworu's death, he admits to himself that despite the way he acted, he was attracted to him. Sadamoto initially follows the plot of The End of Evangelion's version of Episode 25', beginning with the infamous hospital scene between Asuka and Shinji. However, it diverges considerably from the script, ending with Shinji shouting that the Asuka he wants to protect isn't the girl lying before him and Asuka apparently temporarily awakening from her coma to strangle him; Nerv hospital staff separate the two and Shinji is led out while Asuka angrily screams that she hates everyone. Shinji breaks down crying outside soon after seeing his father and Rei (III) pass by him almost unnoticed. Category:Content Rebuild Of Evangelion: Based on the first entry Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone Shinji is more outspoken and stand-offish than his TV counterpart, but not to the degree of the version in manga... he is more of an amalgamation of the two. In this continuity, Shinji has dreams/visions of the empty train much earlier than he did in the TV series. In 2.0, it becomes more increasingly apparent that the dramatic focus for Shinji in this version is his relationship towards his father. Aspects like his utter fear of others is lacking with the core focus being on his aggression about his father abandoning him. Shinji develops a friendship with Asuka but as of now there doesn't appear to be any romantic longing. Although, judging by his reaction to her apparent 'death' and his words to Gendo that "he needed to lose someone important to him too to understand how I feel!" Shinji's feelings for Asuka run deeper than has been yet revealed. Though possibilities of his father using him to 'kill' Asuka one of his closest friends angered him. Perhaps feeling his mother's presence, Shinji is more drawn to developing a relationship with Rei Ayanami. At the end of 2.0 Shinji has apparently locked himself inside Unit 01 with Rei. Shinji Ikari Raising Project: In this manga version, Shinji is also shown to be more confident than he was in the anime, butting heads with Asuka (a childhood friend as opposed to the anime). Also, he gets into somewhat comical situations with girls, much like the lead male character in . The story shows him in a probable love triangle with Rei (the newcomer in his life) and Asuka (the childhood friend). Here, Rei is a distant relative, from Yui's side of the family. To complicate matters, Kaworu (a Seele agent here) was seen to be very friendly towards him, which Asuka finds irritating. Although Asuka sees Rei as a rival, they both decide to work together against Kaworu, for Shinji's sake. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gekuen Datenroku: This version of Shinji, while still shy, has far more resolve than other versions and is not as troubled. He discovers Rei and Kaworu fighting an Angel one night and ends up awakening powers of his own. He is attracted to Rei and appears to have a strong desire to protect her. His power manifests itself as a gun and he has a strong friendship with Kaworu. Character Notes: "Ikari" means "anchor" in Japanese, and can also mean "rage" or "anger." Shinji was named for co-founder ; it can be translated to "child of god." Evangelion character designer based his design of Shinji on his design of Nadia, the title character of Gainax's popular 1990-1991 TV series, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (also directed by Hideaki Anno): Category:Content